The Gospel

The Gospel, which literally means “Good News,” can be summed up in four truths: God, Humanity, Christ, and Response.

GOD

There is one true God who alone is all-powerful, all-wise, and all-good. He created all that exists, including humans in his image. Because God is our Creator, we are accountable to him. (Genesis 1:1, 26-27; Hebrews 9:27)

HUMANITY

All humanity has the same basic problem: we have all sinned against God by disobeying Him in our thoughts, words, and actions. The penalty for this sin is separation from God both now and for eternity. In God's goodness and perfection, He has to punish sin. Therefore, what we need most is forgiveness of sin so that we can be restored into a right relationship with God. (Romans 3:23, 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15)

So far, these two truths only reveal bad news. Thankfully, there’s more to the story. There’s good news in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

CHRIST

God loved you and the world so much that He took care of the sin problem through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, who alone was fully God and fully man, lived the perfect, sinless, and obedient life that we couldn’t live. He died on a sinner’s cross, taking God’s anger in our place. His death was the death we deserve. He was placed in a grave, and after three days He rose again demonstrating victory over sin and death. He offers us this same victorious life. And, Jesus is coming back one day to restore all things to how He intended them to be. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 2:2)

RESPONSE

Though Christ has paid the penalty for sin and offers us new life, we must respond to His offer. We receive Christ as our personal Lord and Savior by grace through faith. This means it’s a free gift; we don’t earn Christ’s forgiveness by being good people. He gives it to us freely because of His love. It’s not based on who we are; it’s based on who He is. How do we accept it? Through repentance and belief. Repentance means to turn away from sin and turn toward God. Belief means to be convinced of the truths of the Gospel and to trust in Jesus, accepting what He did on the cross for sin and surrendering our lives to Him. (Mark 1:15; Ephesians 2:5-8; Romans 10:9-10,13)

Want to know more about the Gospel or what it means for your life? Join us this Sunday morning at 10:30 for morning worship. We would love to see you. You can also call our church office at 847-746-1111 or send us an email.